Panel recommends: Ban assault rifles

Updated 11:37 pm, Friday, March 15, 2013

State Rep. Chris Lyddy, Newtown’s former state representative, is a member of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s Sandy Hook Advisory Commission. He said gun owners should have to give up their weapons to better assure public safety. “Let’s take a stand and give a damn,” he said. less

State Rep. Chris Lyddy, Newtown’s former state representative, is a member of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s Sandy Hook Advisory Commission. He said gun owners should have to give up their weapons to better assure ... more

HARTFORD -- The sale and possession of assault-style weapons including semi-automatics like the rifle used to kill 26 people in Newtown would be prohibited under a recommendation approved Friday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's Sandy Hook Advisory Commission.

But the panel did not address how Connecticut gun owners would surrender their weapons to authorities.

In reaction, Malloy said that the commission's deliberations have been similar to conversations that have been taking place throughout the state since Dec. 14, but he cannot support taking away guns from lawful owners.

Under the simple language preferred by commission members, weapons capable of firing more than 10 bullets, both handguns and rifles, without reloading would be illegal.

Recommendations will be finalized next week and submitted to Malloy, who will give them to legislative leaders to include in the General Assembly's larger discussion on gun control.

"I do not support and will not advocate for, the confiscation of firearms by law-abiding citizens," Malloy said.

During its meeting in the Legislative Office Building, the advisory commission recommended registration of all firearms, including rifles, which are exempt.

Registration would be required to purchase ammunition only for the particular kind of weapon registered. Rifle owners would not have to go through the training required for handgun permits, but they would have to register with the state.

Bernard Sullivan, the former Hartford police chief who is co-chairman of the commission, said it was his intention to expand the state's 1993 assault-weapons ban by going after the number of bullets that can be fired without reloading, rather than address design distinctions that gun manufacturers have used for loopholes.

"They're capable of firing a lot of bullets very quickly because they're supposed to be used by the military or the police when they're trying to overcome an objective," Sullivan said. "My whole thing here is, the more bullets that somebody can shoot, the more danger there is to our society. I don't think we can walk away from that because as long as there are weapons out there that can fire that many bullets that fast, it just means there is that much more danger to our society."

The commission out-voted Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, who had balked at the redefinition.

"It's my opinion that this language is too broad," he said. "Be they handguns, be they long guns, be they so-called assault weapons, we have this issue specifically as it relates to assault weapons, whereby cosmetic changes invalidate, in large measure, many of the assault weapon definitions that have been established."

The momentum to override Jackson seemed to build after Chris Lyddy of Newtown, the town's former state representative who is a commission member, said gun owners should have to give up their weapons to better assure public safety.

"I'm on the side of let's take a stand and give a damn about those lives that have been lost," he said. "You know what? Those legal-abiding gun owners, I do feel bad for if we pass this recommendation. But when I try to measure the cost and benefit of such a recommendation, I'm going to err on the side of the safety of those children and those people who are the targets."

Ron Chivinski, a commission member who is a social studies teacher in Newtown, said that manufacturers have easily made design changes to avoid restrictions and keep selling guns such as the Bushmaster used in the slaughter of 20 children and six adults in the school.

"I think the intent should be to limit those types of weapons as much as reasonably possible," Chivinski said. "So I think we should take a hard look here at some of the language put before us."

Legislative leaders on Friday afternoon continued their closed-door negotiations toward a possible bipartisan bill for House and Senate action. More talks are scheduled for Monday.